I just bought an M4. In looking at this link www.biggerhammer.net/ar15/uppers/it says that Bushie A2 uppers should have either EK, FK, AF or CW on the upper right side of the carry handle. Is this true in every instance?

Just looked at my new Bushmaster M4, purchased a few days ago. I don't have any of the codes listed at the website you listed. I do have a symbol, that looks sort of like a "keyhole". The top round part of the keyhole has a dot, and the botton triangle of the keyhole has a dot. Don't know what to tell you, but I'm not concerned, as I am sure that its a Busy.

this was addressed in a post a few weeks ago, which i can't find now, anyway.....i bought a dcm rifle from a very reputable dealer here (still in the cardboard box from maine) a leo friend of mine bought an m-4 through some ffl dealer the police use. both have the splintered 'A' on the uppers. i believe what is happening is, with the war going on, companies are using whatever raw forgings they can get at the time, as long as you got it from a reputable dealer & it has the bushy manual & warranty card, i wouldn't worry.pat

I ordered my M4 through Gunsmoke. In talking to Ed, we discussed that at times when Bushies are scarce (particularly M4's, such as recently)he puts them together from individual uppers and lowers. I was okay with that, but when I got it, I noticed that it had a RRA fake tele-stock. Well, understandebly, that made me kind of suspicious. I e-mailed Ed & he assured me that other than the stock, it's all BM.

Then I see a web site like that link (and notice that mine has a splintered A) & get all suspicious again.

Sounds as though there is no uniformity in those markings.

How about the inside of the uppers? Mine is kind of graphite grey. Is that what a Bushie looks like since they have that bake on Mil-spec dry film lube?

Thanks for that, Tom_C. I guess that I'm glad that Jarrod didn't answer my post. YIKES...he's a little sensitive about this topic I guess. Perhaps it's time for a FAQ sticky at the the top of this forum.

Anyway, it does answer the question about the different markings on the carry handles. However I can't find any markings on the front or rear lugs. Sounds as though it's not Bushie if it doesn't have it!

777no marks on mine or my friend lugs either, & like i said, my rifle was still in a cardboard box. i may be wrong, but i would think bushy would be able to tell you, by the ser. #, if your rifle left the factory complete. i don't mean to bust balls here, & i've owned nothing but bushmasters, but all mfg's should mark their uppers w/some consistency. this is ridiculous!

I got my M4A3 upper from Gun Smoke and it has a letter "V" stamped on the rear side of the rear lug, just like Jarrod said it would have. I was kind of nervous myself after hearing rumors of parts swapping by Ed, but mine turned out to be on the up-and-up.

I posted to this topic a couple of times. I do think you have a Bushmaster, although you did mention that the dealer did add or change the butt section. It is my opinion, that you will never be happy with this rifle because you will never be really sure in your mind. (your just like me, so no offense) I would insist on a refund from the dealer on the grounds that you are not satisfied. Then buy one someplace else where you can look it over firstJohn

Bushmaster is the only one who coats the inside of there upper so if you have a grayish black film on the inside its Bushmaster! I bought my upper from bushmaster and its Marking has a Sideways H with Triangle on top! If you are in dought then buy from Bushmaster! You will know its the Real Deal!

You see, every upper and lower receiver forging comes from any of several aluminum products companies. The commercial forging divisions of the companies are the ones that actually produce the raw forgings that are used by every AR manufacturer. Some of these will be specially marked for the customer, and others carry only the aluminum company's marks. Either way, the marks are in the forging dies so every part forged in them will carry this mark.

The only thing you can be sure of from these marks are which company made them (if the marks aren't milled off in the process of finishing the part) and sometimes, which firearm company they were intended for. But undoubtedly, the firearms companies do some shopping around. Colt usually deals with Alcoa for forgings, but if Diemaco-Kaiser (a main Bushmaster supplier) has the better prices this month, Colt may buy D-K's, and next month Bushmaster may buy Alcoa's products. So, I wouldn't count on those markings being 100 percent accurate 100 percent of the time.

I've heard that the name for the hard grey coating Bushmaster applies to the inside of their upper recievers is called something like "Michelson hardcoat" or something similar. Has anyone got any info on this stuff?

I know that it's TOUGH stuff. Most of it stayed on my upper receiver when I stripped it, bead blasted it, and re-anodized it. Very little of it came off.

CJ

"Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they will learn why they fear the night."....Thulsa Doom